On April 19th, the Bank of England published a policy for the use of omnibus accounts with the central bank’s real-time gross settlement (RTGS) system. The announcement has been greeted with enthusiasm by providers of virtual currency and blockchain-based payments, which see the new system as clearing a path towards direct participation in central bank settlement.
:Marcus Hughes, director of business development at Bottomline Technologies, told VIXIO that the policy brought a “tremendous clarity which wasn’t there before, and I think this will become a blueprint for other central banks”.